Tea For Two
by Lolsome-o-sis girl
Summary: [Nick/Katherine; Based on a Tumblr Prompt] The story of how Nick did not get fired after his advances on his boss in Episode Six. Nick and Katherine take tea together and Katherine surprises herself when she finds out how much she enjoys Nick's company. [Dedicated to the Guest reviewer!]


**Tea For Two**

_Fandom: Eve_

_Rating: K_

_Genre: Humor, Romance_

_Pairing: Subtle Nick/Katherine_

_Word count: 1287_

_Summary: The story of how Nick did not get fired after his advances on his boss in Episode Six. Nick and Katherine take tea together and Katherine surprises herself when she finds out how much she enjoys Nick's company. Subtle Nick/Katherine ONESHOT. [Dedicated to the Guest reviewer!]_

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**AN: Shout out to the Guest reviewer on my other oneshots! They asked me to write a oneshot about Nick and Katherine because it was their favourite couple after the kiss; this isn't the greatest thing in the world, but it was fun to delve into the Nick/Katherine ship for a while towards the end, and I wanted to make Guest happy so ta da!**

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**DISCLAIMER. I do not own Eve.**

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**Prompt:** _Imagine your OTP at a cute, quaint cafe sharing tea/coffee and cake._

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This was not a date.

It was an apology, Nick had said. An apology for the kissing incident that had occurred in her office a couple of days ago. The incident that had cost her the chance of finding Mary's miracle chip. This dinner was probably a way of bribery, to make sure that he still had a job by the time the weekend was through. To be honest, Katherine hadn't actually decided whether or not she was going to fire the man for his actions. It was far too entertaining watching him panic. Oh, and letting him buy her dinner. That was a bonus too. Never mind the fact that the Clarke family were clearly hiding something and that the dinner would be the perfect opportunity to do some subtle infiltrating. There was no point in leaving it up to Zac. The boy was hopeless.

Nick was waiting for her in front of the small tea room, hands in his pockets. The look on his face was not one that was usually seen on his face - it was like he would rather be anywhere but here. Well, that just made two of them, didn't it?

"Nick," she greeted bluntly with a sharp nod.

"Katherine." He held the door open for her as she went inside and sought out the sofa closest to the back wall, away from the wandering eyes of people in the street. She'd never live it down if someone she knew saw her taking tea with Nick Clarke, of all people.

Nick sat on the sofa next to her. "Thanks for coming."

"Hm," Katherine replied stiffly, resting her clasped hands in her lap.

"I didn't think you'd turn up, to be honest -"

"Trust me, I almost didn't," she informed him.

"Oh. Right." Silence fell between the two for a moment. "So..." He kept his eyes fixed on the menu propped up in front of him. "How's...work?"

_That _was his conversation starter? _"How's work"? _

"Infuriating," she said curtly, picking up her own menu and scanning down the page, just as a long-legged lanky teenager crossed the room and headed towards their sofa.

"You folks ready to order?"

Nick's gaze finally left his menu. "I'll have Earl Grey. And a slice of...chocolate fudge."

"Anything for your lady friend?"

"What?" Nick looked surprised, then embarrassed. "No, no, she's not my -"

"I'm not his lady friend." Katherine scowled at the waiter, in an attempt to make it absolutely clear that she was, in no way, Nick Clarke's "lady friend".

"Oh." The boy didn't look like he believed them. "Apologises."

Nick gestured towards his boss. "Anything you want?"

_To leave? Is that an option?_ She pointed to the first thing on the menu she saw. "Earl Grey. And whatever this dessert is."

The lanky teenager scribbled on the little notepad in his hand. "Right away, folks." He gave them both a nod, before disappearing from view.

Katherine turned to glare at Nick as soon as he was gone. "I am not your "lady friend"."

"I know -"

"Don't start getting any ideas."

"I'm not - I mean, I won't -"

"I still haven't forgotten your little...episode in my office on Friday. Speaking of which, wasn't that why you insisted upon bringing me here?"

"Yes, yes, it was." He fidgeted beside her. "I wanted to tell you how deeply sorry I am for my "little episode" -" he made quotation marks around the phrase "- and how much I know I overstepped the boundaries; I promise it will never happen again -"

"Oh, shut up, Nick," Katherine interrupted. "You sound like you're trying to convince me to take you back after an affair. I don't want to give more people the wrong idea."

"Right. Sorry."

_So you should be_, Katherine added silently, tapping her heels against the floor as the lanky teenager returned, balancing a tray of tea and cake.

"Anything else I can get you folks?" He placed the tray on the coffee table in front of them.

"No," Katherine snapped, still stung by the idea that someone had called her Nick Clarke's "lady friend". She was probably more stung than she ought to be, she later realised.

"Suit yourselves." The boy gave her a less than friendly glance and turned on his heel, gathering up their menus in one swoop. Nick watched the scene with a disapproving look on his face, as he reached for his cup of tea and plate. Oh, well. She was more or less likely to fire him in the next half an hour, anyway. His opinion was merely a blip on her radar.

She picked up her plate of cake and stabbed the slice with the fork, tearing off a chunk before popping it into her mouth. She had to admit it, Nick picked the right place to try and sweeten her up. She speared another piece of the light sponge.

"Ow!" There was a sudden shriek next to her, causing her to almost choke on her slice of cake. Nick's head had collided with the low-hanging lantern situated directly above their seat. His arms flailed slightly and the warm liquid in his cup spilled out over the saucer and onto him. Nick let out a groan, scrubbing at his jumper with the nearest napkin. At any other time in the world, Katherine would have rolled her eyes with a sigh and lectured him for ten minutes about is clumsiness and how that jumper was _hideous_ and deserved the Earl Grey-scented fate. There must have been something added to the cake, Katherine later rationalised, because a bubble of laughter rose from her lungs and escaped from her lips as a loud giggle. She clapped her free hand to her mouth, trying to muffle the sound, but it was no good. The sound kept falling out, filling the air around them. And the more Nick struggled to dry himself off, the funnier the situation seemed to become. And suddenly, before she knew it, Nick was laughing too. Given up trying to mop up his spillage and was chuckling heartily along with her.

They didn't speak for a while after that, whilst they finished off their teas and slices of cake. Occasionally a lone giggle would escape at the memory of Nick and his Earl Grey jumper - something that Katherine would vehemently deny later on, when she was recounting these events. Katherine didn't giggle. And there was _nothing_ giggle-worthy about Nick Clarke. At all. Wasn't she meant to fire him?

"This was fun," he said suddenly, as they stood on the street outside the tea room.

"I wouldn't go that far," Katherine replied, trying to hide the smile that crossed her face. Neither of them made an effort to move, to leave. What exactly were they waiting for? Granted, yes, most of the time, when two people had just been out to dinner they would kiss, but that wasn't the case with them, was it? This little outing hadn't been a date. So why were they standing there like idiots?

"I'll see you on Monday," she said finally. "Early."

He blinked in surprise. "Monday? You mean...Monday, as in tomorrow?"

"Well, I'm not going to mean Monday in three weeks, am I?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not fired, then?"

"Nick, why would I be saying _"I'll see you on Monday"_, if I was preparing to fire you?" She shook her head, finally forcing her feet to move towards her car, parked on the side of the road opposite the tea room. She glanced back over her shoulder. "Don't think that this allows you to be late tomorrow. I _will_ fire you if you turn up late."

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**It was fun writing Katherine for a while. She's so cynical of everything, and Nick just doesn't know what to do, bless him. Hope that Guest enjoyed this - and everyone else too! :D**


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